Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Tituba

Tituba (fl. 1692–1693) was an enslaved Indigenous woman of likely origin from northeastern , purchased in and brought to Village, , by merchant-turned-minister around 1680, where she served as a household servant alongside her husband, John . In late 1691, amid unexplained afflictions suffered by Parris's daughter and niece —manifesting as convulsions, choking, and erratic behavior—Tituba prepared a "witchcake" of rye meal mixed with the girls' urine, a folk remedy intended to reveal the source of harm, but this act instead implicated her in suspected counter-magic and led to her arrest for on February 29, 1692, alongside and as one of the first three accused. During her examination on March 1, under intense interrogation by Parris and magistrates, Tituba confessed to signing a with the (depicted as a tall man from ), possessing animal familiars that afflicted the girls, participating in spectral flights on poles, and implicating Good and Osborne in a broader , details she later recanted as fabricated under threats and physical , including beatings by Parris. Her vivid, detailed testimony—shaped by interrogators' leading questions and the era's belief in —escalated the , transforming isolated suspicions into widespread accusations that ensnared over 150 individuals and resulted in 20 executions, though no empirical proof of acts ever materialized, as the trials relied on unreliable visionary claims later repudiated by colonial authorities. Imprisoned in , Tituba avoided execution—common for non-confessors like Good, who was hanged—due to her status as a confessor willing to testify against others; a returned an "ignoramus" verdict on May 9, 1693, declining indictment, after which she was released upon payment of jail fees by an unknown party and vanished from historical records, her fate undocumented amid the trials' collapse. Later narratives, influenced by 19th- and 20th-century racial stereotypes and fictional works like Arthur Miller's , erroneously recast her as African or a practitioner, diverging from primary court descriptions of her as an " woman" and overlooking the coerced nature of her role in a judicial panic driven by Puritan anxieties, social tensions, and flawed evidentiary standards.

Origins and Background

Ethnic and Cultural Identity

Tituba's ethnic background remains uncertain due to the scarcity of primary records, but contemporary accounts during the Salem witch trials consistently described her as an "Indian" servant, distinguishing her from African slaves in the household. This designation likely referred to indigenous origins rather than North American Native peoples, as Samuel Parris, her enslaver, acquired her in Barbados around 1676–1680, where the slave population was predominantly West African but included rarer imports of South American indigenous captives through Spanish trade networks. Scholarly analysis, particularly by Elaine G. Breslaw, posits Tituba as an woman from the Guiana region (modern-day or ), kidnapped by or traders in the 1660s and sold into Barbadian , based on shipping records of indigenous "cannibal" slaves from the River area and the atypical nature of her purchase by Parris, a favoring diverse labor. This view contrasts with earlier 19th- and 20th-century portrayals influenced by literature, such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1827 play, which depicted her as mixed African-Indian, a critiqued for lacking evidentiary support and projecting romanticized racial myths. Alternative claims of African descent rely on assumptions about Barbados's demographics but overlook trial-era distinctions between "" slaves like John Indian and Tituba's separate "Indian" label, as well as her name's potential linguistic roots. Culturally, Tituba's blended survivals with adaptations from Barbadian , where enslaved women encountered practices like alongside European Christianity. In Parris's Puritan household, she performed domestic roles while reportedly sharing cautionary tales or rituals—possibly echoing Arawak oral traditions of spirits and shape-shifting—with afflicted girls, though her invoked a syncretic of imps and spectral flights without explicit ties to vodun or verifiable in records. This underscores her marginal status in colonial , where "" connoted otherness tied to perceived and susceptibility to diabolical influences, informing Puritan suspicions amid fears of frontier raids and cultural contamination.

Enslavement and Early Captivity

Tituba, likely an woman from northeastern , was captured during intertribal raids or by European slavers as a and transported to , where she entered enslavement in the island's . Enslaved individuals from South American indigenous groups, including Arawaks, were common in by the late , often acquired through raids in regions like modern-day and sold into the slave trade to supplement African labor on sugar estates. In Barbados, Tituba was held in bondage, possibly under multiple owners before her documented association with Samuel Parris, a merchant managing a family sugar estate. Parris, who had arrived on the island after leaving Harvard College following his father's death in 1673, acquired Tituba—along with another enslaved man, John Indian, whom she later married—sometime in the 1670s. A 1679 Barbados census recorded Parris with one slave and one servant, suggesting his household included bound laborers by that point, though specific records of Tituba's purchase do not survive. Her early captivity involved domestic and plantation labor typical for enslaved women in the colony, amid a system where indigenous captives from the Americas were integrated into the chattel slavery framework dominated by African imports. By , following a hurricane that damaged his prospects, Parris departed for , transporting Tituba and John Indian as property to continue their enslavement in . This transatlantic relocation marked the onset of her captivity in the , where , though less entrenched than in the , permitted the holding of both and Native American individuals for life. No primary documents detail her precise duties during the initial years in , but as part of Parris's —where he pursued mercantile ventures—she likely performed household servitude while adapting to Puritan , prior to the family's move to Village in 1689.

Arrival in Colonial Massachusetts

Tituba, likely originating from an Arawak-speaking group in northeastern , was captured during childhood and transported to , where she entered enslavement amid the island's sugar plantation economy. , a London-born serving as a credit agent for Barbadian sugar planters, acquired her as an enslaved servant during his time there in the late 1670s. Parris's decision to return to followed financial setbacks in the trade, prompting him to liquidate assets, including human property, for the voyage north. In late 1680, Parris sailed from to , , bringing Tituba and another enslaved man, John , who became her husband. This arrival integrated her into colonial society as a slave, where English colonial recognized perpetual enslavement for non-Christians from outside , though enforcement varied. Upon docking in , Tituba assumed domestic duties in Parris's unmarried , reflecting the era's reliance on imported labor from the to supplement scarce local indentured servants. Historical records, including later trial documents, confirm her presence in by this date, distinguishing her from North American despite contemporary labels like "Indian servant," which broadly denoted non-European origin.

Life in Salem Village

Household Role Under Samuel Parris

Tituba functioned as an enslaved domestic servant in the household of , who became the minister of Village in late 1689. She assisted in maintaining the parsonage on a day-to-day basis, performing essential chores such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and other housework typical for enslaved women in colonial households. Parris, his wife Elizabeth, and their children—Thomas (born 1681), Betty (born 1682), and Susanna (born 1687)—along with niece , resided in the home, where Tituba's labor supported the family's daily needs. In addition to general domestic tasks, Tituba likely served in a caregiving capacity for the younger children, including Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, given her close proximity and interactions documented in trial accounts preceding the witchcraft accusations. Her husband, John Indian, another enslaved individual owned by Parris and brought from Barbados, handled outdoor labor such as woodcutting, complementing Tituba's indoor responsibilities. This division of labor was common in households with multiple enslaved workers, allowing Parris, a merchant-turned-minister with limited income, to sustain his family amid ongoing disputes over salary and housing in Salem Village. Tituba's role extended to preparing meals, as evidenced by her involvement in kitchen activities like baking, which later factored into pre-trial events.

Interactions and Pre-Trial Behaviors

Tituba served as an enslaved domestic servant in the household of Reverend in Salem Village, performing routine chores such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare for Parris's family, including his nine-year-old daughter Elizabeth (Betty) and eleven-year-old niece . Her role placed her in close proximity to the children, who began exhibiting unexplained fits of screaming, contortions, and in early January 1692, behaviors initially attributed by Parris and local physicians to causes rather than natural illness. In response to the girls' afflictions, on or about February 25, 1692, church member Mary Sibley directed Tituba and fellow enslaved servant John Indian to prepare a "witch cake"—a folk remedy consisting of meal mixed with the afflicted girls' , baked on hot , and fed to the family dog to supposedly compel the tormenting witch to reveal herself through the animal's reactions. This act, rooted in English folk magic rather than Native or African practices, failed to alleviate the symptoms and instead escalated suspicions within the household; Parris, upon discovering it, denounced the ritual as a "diabolical" of in a sermon to his congregation, viewing it as counterproductive to combating . The incident coincided with a worsening of the girls' conditions, leading them to name Tituba as one of their tormentors by February 29, 1692, marking the transition from private household suspicions to public accusation. Prior to formal examination, Tituba's behaviors reflected her subordinate status and limited agency; as an enslaved woman of likely South American origin, she complied with directives from Parris family associates amid rising , without documented resistance or independent practices in contemporary records. Parris's own accounts, including church records, emphasize her utility in daily operations but portray no overt pre-trial conflicts beyond the cake episode, which historians attribute more to communal folk countermeasures than to Tituba's initiative.

Role in the Salem Witch Trials

Initial Accusations

In January 1692, nine-year-old Elizabeth "Betty" Parris and eleven-year-old , residents of Reverend Samuel Parris's household in Village, , began exhibiting bizarre symptoms including screaming fits, choking sensations, and unnatural contortions, which Parris attributed to affliction. Parris consulted local healers, leading Tituba, the enslaved woman in his household, to prepare a "witch cake"—a mixture of meal, the girls' , and sometimes the saliva of an afflicted child, baked and fed to a to identify the supposed through the animal's reaction. This counter-magic ritual, rooted in English practices rather than Tituba's cultural origins, intensified suspicions against her when the girls' symptoms persisted. By late February 1692, under interrogation by Parris and others, the afflicted girls named Tituba as one of their tormentors, alongside Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, marking the onset of formal witchcraft accusations in Salem. Warrants for their apprehension were issued on February 29, 1692 (by the Julian calendar, equivalent to March 1692 in the modern Gregorian reckoning), charging them with "high suspicion of sundry acts of Witchcraft."

Examination and Confession

Tituba's examination took place on March 1, 1692, in Village before magistrates and , following complaints of linked to the afflictions of young girls in Parris's household. Initially, Tituba denied any knowledge of evil spirits or involvement in harming the children, responding to queries such as "Why doe you hurt these children?" with affirmations of innocence, stating "I doe not hurt them." Under repeated and leading questioning, she shifted to confession, claiming the had approached her in the form of a tall man in black clothing with white hair, sometimes appearing as a hog or dog, and compelled her to serve him under threat of harm. In her account, Tituba described signing the Devil's book with a mark resembling blood and receiving a yellow bird as a , which she interpreted as a means to afflict the children by pinching and choking them at meetings. She implicated and as fellow witches, recounting visions of them riding sticks to gatherings where they plotted against the afflicted girls, and detailed encounters with other entities including a , red and black cats, and a . The confession included fantastical elements such as flying on poles and threats from accomplices to sever her head if she refused to comply, elements that aligned with contemporary Puritan fears of despite lacking direct evidence of Tituba's guilt beyond the girls' fits, which reportedly ceased during her admissions. Historical analysis of the records indicates potential , as Hathorne's persistent interrogations shaped the , with Tituba's detailed responses emerging only after denials failed to satisfy the magistrates. As an enslaved woman with limited and English proficiency, Tituba faced heightened vulnerability to pressure, possibly including pre-examination influence from Parris, though the court documents do not explicitly record coaching. Her marked the first public admission in the trials, diverging from denials by other suspects and providing a template that encouraged subsequent accusations, yet scholars question its veracity given the era's reliance on and the incentives for survival through compliance.

Testimony and Its Immediate Effects

Tituba's examination occurred on March 1, 1692, in Village before magistrates and , following complaints from Joseph Hutchinson and accusing her of . During the proceedings, the afflicted girls—, , Ann Putnam Jr., and —exhibited fits, which Tituba initially denied causing, but she relented under questioning and threats of harsher treatment. In her confession, Tituba admitted to signing the devil's book in her master's pasture about two years prior, describing the devil as a tall man from who promised to be her master and give her fine things. She further claimed to have been baptized by a tall man in black and to have ridden on a pole with two others, and , to under moonlight, encountering animals like a hog, dog, and yellow bird that she identified as familiars urging her to harm the children. A second examination followed on March 2, 1692, where Tituba elaborated on her covenant with the devil, detailing meetings with Good and Osborne who pinched the girls, and her own spectral attacks on the accusers. She described the devil's book as having nine marks from others who signed it and claimed to see spectral images of four women—two from and two from Andover—threatening her for not afflicting the children more severely. Tituba's detailed narrative, delivered in response to leading questions, included elements drawn from Puritan and her possible cultural knowledge, though no evidence confirms she practiced independently. The immediate effects of Tituba's confession were profound, as it provided the first validation of the accusations after and Sarah Osborne's denials, convincing authorities of witchcraft's reality in . Her implicating Good and Osborne as accomplices reinforced their guilt in the eyes of examiners, while her vivid descriptions of assaults and the devil's agents ignited further among the afflicted girls, prompting them to name additional suspects in the ensuing days. By mid-March, this led to warrants for and others, escalating the crisis from isolated complaints to widespread examinations and arrests, with Tituba's serving as a catalyst that shifted skepticism toward belief in a . No executions followed confessions like hers, but her account established a where admitting guilt spared immediate punishment while fueling the trials' expansion.

Post-Trial Fate

Imprisonment and Legal Resolution

Tituba was arrested on March 1, 1692, alongside and , and transported to Boston's jail, where she was held without formal or due to her prior during , which authorities leveraged to implicate others rather than prosecute her directly. Her status as an enslaved person owned by further distinguished her case, as confessors like Tituba were often spared execution to serve as witnesses, though this did not exempt her from incarceration. Imprisonment conditions in Boston were harsh, with prisoners responsible for their own upkeep; Tituba remained confined for approximately 13 months because Parris refused to pay her accumulated jail fees, which covered lodging, food, and other costs totaling around £7. This refusal effectively prolonged her detention even after Governor suspended the Court of in October 1692 and began pardoning remaining prisoners by early 1693. The legal resolution occurred in May 1693, when charges against Tituba were dismissed amid the collapse of the trials, coinciding with a general release of unexecuted prisoners; an unidentified individual—possibly a man from —paid her fees and took custody of her, likely as an indentured servant, marking her exit from records. This outcome reflected the era's pragmatic economics of bondage, where enslaved or indentured individuals' freedom hinged on rather than judicial .

Release and Subsequent Indentured Service

Tituba remained imprisoned in following her March 1692 , as no executions occurred for those who admitted to during the trials. By early 1693, with the subsiding under Governor William Phips's orders to halt proceedings and review cases, formal charges against Tituba were dismissed, though she could not be released until her incarceration costs—approximately £7 for fees, chains, and maintenance—were paid. , her enslaver, refused to cover these expenses, leaving her detained for over a year. In April 1693, an unidentified individual paid Tituba's jail fees, securing her release after roughly 13 months of confinement. This person, in exchange for the payment, took possession of Tituba, effectively her to service to recoup the outlay, as was common for enslaved or indebted individuals unable to self-fund liberation in colonial . Historical records provide no details on the benefactor's identity or Tituba's precise terms of indenture, though she likely performed domestic labor similar to her prior role under Parris. This arrangement marked her transition from Parris's household, with no evidence of further contact between them.

Disappearance from Historical Records

Tituba remained imprisoned in from her arrest on March 24, 1692, until approximately May 1693, as refused to pay her accumulated jail fees, which totaled around seven pounds. On May 9, 1693, a declined to indict her on charges, marking the effective end of legal proceedings against her and allowing for her release as one of the last suspects freed amid the trials' conclusion. An unidentified individual paid her fees and took custody of her, likely purchasing her into to cover the costs, after which she departed and severed ties with the Parris household. No contemporary records document Tituba's life beyond this transaction; she and her husband John Indian, if he accompanied her, vanish entirely from colonial documentation thereafter. Historians attribute this absence to her status as an enslaved or indentured person of low social visibility, whose movements outside Salem's orbit left no traceable footprint in court files, church registers, or property deeds. persists regarding possible relocation southward, such as to , but lacks evidentiary support from primary sources like Essex County archives or merchant ledgers. The scarcity of post-1693 references underscores the trials' focus on her as a rather than a figure of ongoing public or legal interest, rendering her ultimate fate—whether through , further servitude, or death—irrecoverable from extant historical evidence.

Interpretations and Debates

Authenticity of Confession and Motivations

Tituba's examination occurred on March 1, 1692, before local magistrates and , during which she initially denied the accusations of leveled by the afflicted girls, and . Under intense interrogation, she confessed to signing the devil's book, flying on a pole to , meeting with witches including and , and performing acts like pinching the girls via means. This account, recorded in court documents, included vivid details of a shape transforming into animals and baking a witch cake—elements drawn from English folk traditions rather than her likely cultural background. Historians widely question the authenticity of Tituba's as a genuine admission of practice, attributing it instead to and survival strategy. Contemporary accounts and later analyses indicate that , her enslaver, physically beat her prior to the to extract compliance, as risked execution while offered temporary reprieve—a pattern observed in other trials where recusants faced hanging. Tituba herself later recanted in October 1692, stating under that she had fabricated the story to shield herself from Parris's violence, a claim corroborated by ministerial inquiries into the trials' excesses. Scholar Elaine G. Breslaw argues that the confession's content reflects deliberate adaptation: Tituba, familiar with and folk healing from , mirrored interrogators' Puritan expectations of and covenants to manipulate the narrative, thereby positioning herself as a valuable rather than a condemned witch. Her primary motivation appears to have been amid vulnerability as an enslaved woman with limited . As a marginalized figure—likely of South American origin trafficked through the —Tituba faced disproportionate scrutiny and lacked the social protections afforded white villagers, making resistance futile against threats of torture or death. shifted suspicion outward, implicating others and securing her utility to authorities, who needed witnesses to sustain accusations; this tactical shift, per Breslaw, leveraged her syncretic knowledge of European and magic to craft a believable tale without admitting personal guilt in a literal . While some interpretations posit cultural misunderstanding or hallucinatory elements from possible poisoning in Salem's rye, from trial records prioritizes duress as the causal driver, as uncoerced denials by others led to swift condemnation. No primary evidence supports authentic belief in the confessed acts, underscoring the confession's role as a coerced rather than voluntary disclosure.

Influence on Witchcraft Narratives

Tituba's and on March 1, 1692, marked the first detailed admission of in the trials, introducing narrative elements that shaped subsequent accusations and testimonies. She recounted signing the Devil's book at the behest of a specter described as a tall man in a black coat with white hair, attending nocturnal meetings with other witches, and using animal familiars—including a hog, black dog, red and black cats, and a yellow bird—to torment the afflicted girls through pinching and choking. These specifics, derived from her interrogation under pressure, provided a vivid template for that accusers later echoed, shifting accusations from personal grievances to depictions of organized satanic pacts. By implicating and as fellow witches who flew on poles and participated in diabolical assemblies, Tituba's account expanded the perceived threat, catalyzing a surge in indictments that reached 144 to 185 suspects by mid-1692. Her testimony lent empirical-like validation to the girls' fits and visions, encouraging other suspects to confess similar details—such as book-signing and spirits—to evade harsher punishment, thereby perpetuating the hysteria's momentum. Primary court records indicate this progression, with later examinations mirroring Tituba's motifs of collective over isolated harm. Historians, including Elaine G. Breslaw, interpret Tituba's narratives as influenced by her likely heritage from , incorporating folkloric elements like shape-shifting animals that blended with Puritan to heighten the trials' exotic peril. This fusion, possibly coerced through beatings by as Tituba later alleged, reinforced causal beliefs in demonic causation, dominating trial rhetoric and distinguishing Salem's outbreak from prior witch hunts. Such dynamics underscore how her reluctant disclosures, rather than innate sorcery, drove the evidentiary framework that sustained the prosecutions.

Challenges to Modern Portrayals

Modern depictions of Tituba, particularly in literature and theater such as Arthur Miller's (1953), frequently portray her as an or woman practicing or exotic -derived magic, emphasizing her racial otherness as the catalyst for the hysteria. This characterization aligns with mid-20th-century assumptions but contradicts primary court records from , which consistently identify her as an "Indian woman" or servant, likely of or South American origin rather than descent. Such portrayals impose anachronistic racial narratives, transforming Tituba into a symbol of Black resistance or mystical empowerment, as in Maryse Condé's novel I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem (1986), which fictionalizes her as a defiant figure reclaiming witchcraft as cultural heritage. Historians challenge this by noting that her February 1692 confession described rituals akin to English folk divination—such as using egg whites in water for fortune-telling—rather than distinctly non-European practices, suggesting the accusations arose from widespread Puritan anxieties over commonplace superstitions rather than imported "other" magic. Attributing voodoo-like elements ignores evidence that Tituba, as an enslaved Indigenous woman, adapted to her enslaver Samuel Parris's household without documented ties to African spiritual traditions. Critics argue these modern adaptations perpetuate stereotypes of non-white women as inherently supernatural or manipulative, as seen in The Crucible's depiction of Tituba coercing girls into witchcraft, which echoes 19th-century embellishments rather than trial testimonies where she was the first to "confess" under interrogation pressure, possibly to avoid execution. This overlooks causal factors like Parris family dynamics and community folklore, prioritizing dramatic racial tropes over empirical records; for instance, no contemporary accounts link her to organized occultism, and her survival hinged on strategic compliance, not empowerment. Television series like (2014–2017) further distort by amplifying her as a scheming Indigenous-Black hybrid, blending unsubstantiated ethnic fusion with sensationalism that flattens historical complexity into entertainment. These challenges highlight how post-20th-century retellings, influenced by evolving , retroactively racialize Tituba to fit narratives of marginalization, often sidelining primary sources like the examinations that emphasize her coerced over innate "." Scholars such as Elaine Breslaw and Chadwick Hansen stress that assuming African origins stems from later misinterpretations, not 17th-century evidence, urging reliance on verifiable documents to counter accreted myths.

References

  1. [1]
    The Salem Witch Scare - Digital History
    To counteract these symptoms, Tituba made a "witchcake" out of rye meal and urine. This attempt at counter-magic led to Tituba's arrest for witchcraft. She and ...
  2. [2]
    Unraveling the Many Mysteries of Tituba, the Star Witness of the ...
    Her history was written by men, working when African voodoo was more electrifying than outmoded English witchcraft. All wrote after the Civil War, when a slave ...
  3. [3]
    Tituba - Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive
    Salem Witch Trials in History and Literature An Undergraduate Course ... In all of the court documents relating to the Witchcraft Trials, Tituba's ...
  4. [4]
    SWP No. 125: Tituba - Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive
    Titiba an Indian Woman brought before us by Const' Jos Herrick of Salem upon Suspition of Witchcraft by her Commited according to the Compl't of Jos. Hutcheson ...Missing: historical | Show results with:historical
  5. [5]
    Purloined Identity: The Racial Metamorphosis of Tituba of Salem ...
    Tituba's African identity as mythology. In a 1998 review, Rowlands privileges Breslaw's (1996) representation of Tituba as an Arawak Indian imported from South ...
  6. [6]
    [PDF] The Racial Metamorphosis of Tituba of Salem Village
    Longfellow's Tituba is half-Indian with an Indian mother and a fierce Black Obeah man as her father (Hansen, 1974).
  7. [7]
    [PDF] UCLA - American Indian Culture and Research Journal
    Since the mid-nineteenth century most. American historians and writers have described Tituba as a woman of African heritage. By the early 1970s, the popular ...
  8. [8]
    [PDF] Maryse Conde's I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem
    From her research on the. Caribbean slave trade, Breslaw surmises that Tituba was probably an. Arawak-Guiana Indian (not a Carib) born in the 1660s on the ...
  9. [9]
    https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/69451/CurleySpring2014.pdf?sequence=2
  10. [10]
    An Indian Slave Woman Confesses to Witchcraft - Digital History
    Tituba was one of the growing number of slaves imported from the West Indies. Probably an Arawak born in northeastern South America, Tituba had been enslaved in ...
  11. [11]
    Tituba: The Slave of Salem - History of Massachusetts Blog
    Jan 2, 2013 · Tituba was a slave who worked for Samuel Parris during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The various documents and books about the Salem Witch Trials over the ...Missing: enslavement | Show results with:enslavement
  12. [12]
    Tituba, Indian Servant of Mr. Samuel Parris
    Mar 1, 2019 · Tituba could have been a Wampanoag, a Carib, or an Arawak Indian, which scholars have debated for years. Her foreignness within her small ...
  13. [13]
    Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He to Blame for the Salem Witch Trials?
    Sep 8, 2015 · In 1680, Parris moved to Boston, the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with his two slaves, Tituba and John Indian. He married Elizabeth ...Missing: timeline | Show results with:timeline
  14. [14]
    The Mysterious Enslaved Woman Who Sparked Salem's Witch Hunt
    Jul 17, 2018 · Reverend Samuel Parris bought Tituba in Barbados, where she had been enslaved since her capture during childhood. He brought her to ...
  15. [15]
    THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS: A biographical sketch of Tituba.
    She was originally from an Arawak village in South America, where she was captured as a child, taken to Barbados as a captive, and sold into slavery. It was in ...Missing: historical | Show results with:historical
  16. [16]
    Life Story: Tituba
    In fact, no person who confessed to practicing witchcraft was executed during the Salem Witch Trials. On May 12 Tituba was sent to a prison in Boston to ...Missing: primary | Show results with:primary
  17. [17]
    Foundation of Salem Village Parsonage
    When Reverend Parris moved to Salem Village in 1688, he brought with him two “Spanish Indian” slaves, Tituba and John Indian. It is unclear whether he brought ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  18. [18]
    Samuel Parris - Famous Trials
    Parris was unmarried at the time, maintaining two slaves, including a woman named Tituba. In 1680, Parris left the island, taking with him his two slaves.
  19. [19]
    The Salem Witch Trials | Tituba - ToSalem
    These first years in Salem saw Tituba engaged with cooking and cleaning. It's not known exactly when Tituba married John Indian, but this likely happened ...
  20. [20]
    Salem Transcripton Project - Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive
    The first to be accused were easy targets of social prejudice: Sarah Good, a homeless mother and beggar, Tituba, the Indian slave of the Rev. ... before the Salem ...
  21. [21]
    Salem Witch Trials: Primary Sources - History of Massachusetts Blog
    Jul 7, 2018 · The book discusses various witchcraft cases in New England from 1648 to 1692 and includes the events that led up to the Salem Witch Trials, many ...
  22. [22]
    SALEM WITCH TRIALS CHRONOLOGY
    January 1692- Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village's daughter, 9-year-old Elizabeth “Betty” Parris, falls ill, soon followed by his 11-year-old niece, ...<|separator|>
  23. [23]
    The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 - Peabody Essex Museum
    The minister suspected witchcraft. In the 17th century, a witch was understood as a person who agreed to serve the devil in opposition to the Christian church.<|separator|>
  24. [24]
    Records of Salem Witchcraft
    Tituba's Examination. Salem Village March 1st 1691. Titiba an Indian woman brought before vs by Const Joseph Herrick of Salem upon Suspition of witchcraft ...Missing: primary sources
  25. [25]
    The Salem Witch Trials According to the Historical Records
    Burns examines the witch trials through original-source documents in “The ... Tituba confessed and identified more witches from Salem. “It didn't have ...
  26. [26]
    Salem Witch Hunt begins | March 1, 1692 - History.com
    Though adult women—and a few men—accused their neighbors of witchcraft in 1692, the core group of accusers were girls. Witch trial in Salem, Massachusetts.
  27. [27]
    Tituba - Famous Trials
    Parris, at the time, was an unmarried merchant, leading to speculation that Tituba may have served as his concubine. Tituba helped maintain the Parris household ...
  28. [28]
    A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials - Smithsonian Magazine
    Oct 24, 2022 · By May 1693, Phips had pardoned all those imprisoned on witchcraft charges. ... witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. Public domain via ...
  29. [29]
    Tituba and the Salem Witch Trials - Caribbean Collective Magazine
    Oct 15, 2020 · Tituba was a slave owned by Reverend Samuel Parris, a wealthy business owner who inherited a sugar plantation in Barbados.
  30. [30]
    Tituba of Salem Village | Encyclopedia.com
    Tituba also meets Pirn, a young stowaway who is later caught and sold as an indentured servant to a resident of Salem Village, Massachusetts. ... Reverend Parris ...<|separator|>
  31. [31]
    The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: An Account
    From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem ...Missing: pre- primary
  32. [32]
    The Witches of Salem--Race and Gender/Puritan Era - H-Net Reviews
    Elaine G. Breslaw's Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem is an important contribution to the literature of the Salem witchhunt. By foregrounding Tituba and her ...Missing: summary enslavement
  33. [33]
    [PDF] Confessions in the Salem Witch Trials - Scholars Archive
    Jun 3, 2024 · "9 Although many 19th century historians have argued that Tituba knew magic and voodoo from her home country, there is no evidence from ...
  34. [34]
    H-Net Reviews
    Tituba also recanted, saying she had lied to protect herself from a master who had essentially beaten a confession out of her. In October, when Governor Phips's ...
  35. [35]
    Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan ... - jstor
    A landmark contribution to women's history and early American history, Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem sheds new light on one of the most painful episodes in ...Missing: summary | Show results with:summary
  36. [36]
    The Multicultural Dimensions of the 1692 Salem Witch-Hunt - jstor
    Abstract. This study examines Tituba's role in the Salem, Massachusetts, witch scare of i692. It rejects the notion that Tituba was an African American or ...
  37. [37]
    [PDF] A “Confessed” Witch: Tituba and Salem Witchcraft, 1692-93
    Apr 10, 2021 · Between March and October of 1692 over 150 people were arrested under the suspicion and accusations of witchcraft and 20 were executed. Many of ...
  38. [38]
    Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem - NYU Press
    She is the author of Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies (NYU Press, 1995), Witches of the Atlantic World: An Historical ...
  39. [39]
    https://nyupress.org/9780814712276/tituba-reluctant-witch-of-salem/
  40. [40]
    [PDF] Bewitching the Blame: the Crucible's Legacy of Appropriation and ...
    In each of these adaptations, Arthur. Miller's depictions of Abigail and Tituba are used to perpetuate inaccurate tropes and further misrepresent the real women ...
  41. [41]
    Tituba's Race—Black, Indian, Mixed? - ThoughtCo
    Mar 23, 2019 · Documents of the Salem witch trials call Tituba an Indian. Her (likely) husband, John, was another enslaved person of the Parris family, and was ...
  42. [42]
    In What Ways Might Maryse Condé's I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem ...
    ... historical inaccuracies and distance her characters from the 'real' events. In addition, this also acknowledges that little is known about the figure of ...Missing: portrayals | Show results with:portrayals
  43. [43]
    Tituba, The “Black Witch” of Salem - Dig: A History Podcast
    Dec 19, 2021 · She argues that Tituba was likely an Arawak Indian, born in the “Spanish Main,” likely modern day Venezuela or Guyana. She makes this claim ...
  44. [44]
    Tituba in "The Crucible": A Symbol of Manipulation and ... - PapersOwl
    Oct 26, 2023 · Some critics argue that her character leans into racial stereotypes, presenting her as inherently tied to mystical practices and dark arts.
  45. [45]
    https://papersowl.com/examples/tituba-in-the-crucible-a-symbol-of-manipulation-and-misunderstanding/
  46. [46]
    Salem: Who's Real and Who's Not | An Historian Goes to the Movies
    Mar 26, 2015 · The show's wildly inaccurate depiction of Salem denigrates the colonists and flatters modern Americans. And for historical accuracy, the ...
  47. [47]
    Salem: How Not to Handle History (Or Race, Gender, etc...) - Reactor
    Apr 28, 2014 · What you're not understanding is that the show's portrayal is not historically accurate, because it's portraying the persecutors' lies about ...<|separator|>